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The Skoda Octavia vRS is almost like the VW Jetta GLI we should have gotten. Using the MK7 GTI’s MQB platform and 217-horsepower four-cylinder powertrain, the Octavia vRS is also available with a 2.0 TDI engine making 180 horsepower – and both powertrains can be had with the wagon bodystyle you see above.
With a price point below that of VW while offering identical performance, the previous Octavia vRS models were something of a cult performance car in Europe – and a favorite of the local constabulary in many parts of the UK. Especially the wagon. Too bad we won’t see this stateside in any form – now that the Jetta has become its own North American-spec car, the Octavia’s closest relative isn’t even available to us anymore.
32 Comments on “Skoda Octavia vRS, A GTI In Sensible Shoes...”
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I like everything except the upper grille and the spoiler on the sedan. The small D-pillars on the wagon are incredible, given current styling trends. It looks good in white.
Make mine a wagon with the Performance Pack engine from the new GTI (230 HP, 258 lb/ft), a DSG, a pano roof, xenons, keyless ignition, and a nav system with traffic support.
Nice looking car, both in sedan and wagon body styles. Clean and simple, while escaping the generic and boring look that I think hurts the current Jetta. Maybe it’s just the wheels.
The perfect car for most Americans.*
*-Not for sale in America
Isn’t that always the way it is?
The Fiat Panda in 4×4 form would be a perfect car for a lot of people here in the Northeast, but you can’t get one in the US so tons of people drive Subarus instead.
Somehow I don’t feel that Subaru sales would suffer all that much if Fiat brought the Panda here.
I’m not saying that the Panda would kill Subaru sales, but that there are probably people who bought a Subaru that would have bought a Panda 4×4 had the Panda been an option.
And the people buying Mazda2s and Sonics and other subcompacts would probably also buy the Panda.
WOW, a hatchback station wagon I DON’T HATE wearing rims off a Taurus SHO.
rims aren’t so bad but the car looks pretty bland bordering bad imo!
Rear and front lamp assemblies look 3 generations old (they probably are) and interior will be no doubt behind the competition (probably Golf Mk6 parts bin).
Available in Australia but i dont think i’ve ever seen more than 1 Skoda a week because i don’t think many people can identify with the a recycled car from VW parts bin.
If the Skoda is “almost like” the Jetta that “we should have gotten,” then what Jetta that is almost like a Skoda should we have actually been sent? And what does any of this have to do with the MK VII GTI we still don’t have?
Octavia has everything to do with the new Mk VII GTI you still don’t have. And it has nothing to do with Jetta. It is built on the new MQB system, same as Golf VII or new Audi A3, it uses the new line of TSI and TDI engines, same electronic assist package…
It kind of reminds me of the current jetta.
Sigh, the Sportwagen and/or GTI I’ve wanted. We came so close here. You can get the GTI powertrain, but not in a wagon. And you can get the wagon, but not with the GTI powertrain.
If I park my Sportwagen next to a GTI for long enough, will they cross-pollinate?
When they brought the MKV Jetta Sportwagen to the US shortly after I bought my MKV GTI, I pondered buying the JSW 2.0T, swapping all the GTI specific bits over, and selling the GTI chassis with the dull bits. I loved everything about my GTI other than the trunk that was just a little bit on the small side. The potato cutter wheels, plaid seats, and fantastic steering wheel were what ultimately pushed me to a GTI instead of a Rabbit (at the time), so I’d have had a hard time giving all that nice stuff up if I simply traded for a 2.0T JSW. The other dealbreaker was the creamy white that the JSW came in. The Candy White of the GTI was miles better.
GTI with dull bits. That would have been an interesting Autotrader ad.
It’s a bummer they killed the 2.0T Sportwagen before I was in the market, but even if they hadn’t the $27.xxx sticker price was too rich. $25K for a TDI Sportwagen is a decent deal. $25K for the GTI is a downright good deal. I would gladly have stretched to $25K for a Sportwagen 2.0T if they had offered a lightly-optioned one.
I’d happily own a GTI now, but I abso-freaking-lutely need that extra cargo space.
Audi A4 Avant 2.0T no?
It’d be more directly related to an A3 since it’s on MQB, so more Golf/Jetta and I guess Passat, because I think that’s on the same platform.
The car that’s almost the same as an older Audi A4 is the Seat Exeo. They literally moved the B7 tooling from Ingolstadt to Martorell when the B8 went into production.
From what I’ve heard the Skoda is just a cheaper VW like the VW is a cheaper Audi. No matter how it’s configured it’s still built with cheaper materials and less quality. Be carefull what you wish for.
Then you’ve heard wrong. First of all, only the TT, A1 and A3 share Volkswagen platforms. The rest are uniquely Audi, easily identifiable by engine configuration (VW tranversally, Audi longtitudinally).
And for Skoda, all the oily bits of the MQB platform have the same quality regardless of brand; when it comes to interior quality Skoda uses materials that are a bit cheaper than VW. Still better than US Jetta or US Passat interiors…
I base my statement on a couple of guys I know from Europe who have owned a Skoda. Then added my own experience of test driving a VW GTI and my current Audi A3. I’m not saying the Skoda is bad just that they make considerations to hit a price point.
In reality, VW and Audi are each the top of two different brand families — Traditional/Elegant and Sporty/Techie, respectively (my words; it’s something to that effect).
VW’s sub-brand or “feeder brand” is Skoda, which at times offers even better options and value than VW itself, oddly. Popular in central and eastern Europe.
Audi’s feeder brand is SEAT, sold mostly in Spain and Latin America.
The VW brand then flows upward to Bentley, while Audi flows upward to Lamborghini. That’s the theory, anyway, but since Piech left I don’t know how closely they’re sticking to it.
Dear VW of America,
F#&!* you.
Sincerely,
Dejected Fan
The Octavia vRS wagon has always been a dream of mine.
Glad to see it’s still in the same vein. Understated… handsome without being too trendy… and you get a fricking 2.0T.
Daddy likes. Space for two child seats and a stroller and a bike in the back.
The interior is NOT cheaper compared to VW or even Audi. Skoda has been the smart choice for people who appreciate german engineering and like the teutonic feel, but who are not badge whores and don’t want bigger engines. New Octavia has a very high quality interior and drives very similar to Passat or FWD A4. VAG has its hands full with VW in US market, trying to gain market share from the japanese. Another of their brands in the US market would mix things up too much and the brand itselt (Skoda) has zero credibility to the average US customer.
Interior IS cheaper than both VW and Audi, in the same way VW interior is cheaper than Audi interior. And soft-plastic enthusiast with their habit of touching and feeling all of the interior before they set off will certainly know the difference.
OTOH, in the real life, the difference is probably there, but it’s easy to overlook. If you transfer from a Chevy, you would consider all of them about the same. And even Skoda is probably better than US VWs (even EU Jetta vs Golf is bigger difference than Octavia vs Golf).
As a Audi A3 driver I resent the “badge whore” comment. I made a conscious decision that I actually like the A3 compared to the comparable VW, and didn’t mind paying the few extra thousand dollars for it. If it matters I remove the badges from the car, except for the grill which I’ve only dulled the plastic chrome rings.
I don’t know which A3 you have, but the A3 that was out when I bought my MKV was downright drab compared to the GTI. The powertrains were the same as I wasn’t interested in the AWD VR6 A3, the GTI interior had the great steering wheel and fantastic plaid seats, and the GTI exterior was bold. When you rolled in the fact that a GTI optioned as I wanted was $26k while the A3 was $32k, it was a no-brainer. (The cloth GTI seats were so charming that I preferred them over the leather GTI seats. In the A3, I needed leather to be happy with the interior.) Different stroke for different folks. I wanted something a little more brash, so the GTI was hands down the way to go for me.
Why are you showing us this completely irrelevant Octavia RS, but not the (more relevant for Europe) second generation Peugeot 308, which was revealed last month?
That car is beautiful. It looks similar to my white Sportwagen, but the rims are nicer looking, and even though the tail lights look like they came off an early 2000s Audi, I like them better than the rounded ones VW put on the Sportwagen. I’ll take 2! Oh wait, I have to move to Europe first.
side profile and rear looks like an audi a6 from 2 generations ago.
i like the lack of chrome around the windows. todays vehicles are too flashy.
this i like. the front end/grill looks too much like a kia but the rest of the car rocks.
I remain convinced that Skoda would do very well in Canada, while not stealing sales from VW. I think they would instead steal buyers from Subaru, Hyundia, KIA.
Interesting thing about quality – in most of Europe Skoda get higher quality ratings / owner satisfaction ratings from JD Power type surveys than VW or Audi. Perhaps the lower Skoda price leads to lower expectations (and higher satisfaction), but the end result is that Skoda seems to put together their VW parts bin components in a manner that provides the same or better quality to owners.
If you showed 10 Americans the side profile of that car and asked them what brand, I bet 8 would say Audi. It’s got A4 tail lights from 10 years ago.